14-589: Arnold Moss (January 28, 1910 – December 15, 1989) was an American character actor . Born in Flatbush , Moss was a third-generation Brooklyn native. He attended Brooklyn's Boys High School . His first involvement with acting came when he was in college, after which he joined the Eva Le Gallienne Apprentice Group . Moss was an announcer at two Baltimore, Maryland, radio stations, moving to WCAO in 1931 after having worked at WTAM . In 1932, he
28-776: A combined total of 124 performances, the longest run of the play in Broadway history. He appeared in the original Broadway production of the Hal Prince / Stephen Sondheim musical Follies , playing impresario Dimitri Weismann. Moss also was narrator for orchestras in Boston, Detroit, and Milwaukee. Moss appeared in dozens of television programs during the golden age of TV. On November 22, 1950, he starred in "Lord Mountdrago" on Somerset Maugham TV Theatre . He appeared on television in Star Trek (1966) as mysterious actor Anton Karidian, alter-ego of
42-441: A leading actor often has the physical attractiveness considered necessary to play the love interest , a character actor typically does not. In fact, some character actors are known for their unusual looks. For example, Chicago character actor William Schutz's face was disfigured in a car accident when he was five years old, but his appearance after reconstructive surgery helped him to be distinctive to theater audiences. Generally,
56-542: A menacing figure because of his "long, angular face", which was easily recognized in public, although audiences rarely knew his name. Character actors can play a variety of types, such as the femme fatale , gunslinger , sidekick , town drunk , villain , hooker with a heart of gold , and many others. Prolific character actors, such as Margo Martindale , are rarely out of work, and they often have long careers that span decades. They are often highly esteemed by fellow actors. Supporting role A supporting character
70-787: A particular part or in a certain genre, such that the actor becomes so strongly identified with a particular type of role that casting directors and theatrical agents steer the actor to similar roles. Some character actors are known as "chameleons", able to play roles that vary wildly, such as Gary Oldman and Christian Bale . Many character actors tend to play the same type of role throughout their careers, like Harvey Keitel as tough, determined characters; Christopher Lloyd as eccentrics; Claude Rains as sophisticated, sometimes morally ambiguous men; Abe Vigoda as aging criminals; Fairuza Balk as moody goth girls; Doug Jones as non-human creatures; and Forest Whitaker as composed characters with underlying volatility. Ed Lauter usually portrayed
84-553: A prime example of a "that guy" actor being John Carroll Lynch . Over the course of an acting career, an actor can sometimes shift between leading roles and supporting roles. Some leading actors, as they get older, find that access to leading roles is limited by their age. Sometimes character actors have developed careers based on specific talents needed in genre films, such as dancing, horsemanship, acrobatics, swimming ability, or boxing. Many up-and-coming actors find themselves typecast in character roles due to an early success with
98-575: Is a character in a narrative that is not the focus of the primary storyline , but is important to the plot/protagonist, and appears or is mentioned in the story enough to be more than just a minor character or a cameo appearance . Sometimes, supporting characters may develop a complex backstory of their own, but this is usually in relation to the main character , rather than entirely independently. In television, supporting characters may appear in more than half of episodes per season. Some examples of well-known supporting characters include Watson in
112-434: Is often applied to an actor who frequently plays a distinctive and important supporting role. In another sense, a character actor may also be one who specializes in minor roles. A character actor may play a variety of characters in their career, often referred to as a "chameleon", or may be known for playing the same type of roles. Character actor roles are more substantial than bit parts or non-speaking extras . The term
126-465: Is used primarily to describe television and film actors, as opposed to theater actors. An early use of the term was in the 1883 edition of The Stage , which defined a character actor as "one who portrays individualities and eccentricities". Actors with a long career history of playing character roles may be difficult for audiences to recognize as being the same actor. In contrast to leading actors , they are generally seen as less glamorous. While
140-844: The Brooklyn branch of City College of New York . Moss made two appearances in Bob Hope films, as Hope's Casablanca contact in the espionage spoof My Favorite Spy and as a conniving Venetian doge in Casanova's Big Night . Moss appeared in the feature film The 27th Day (1957) as The Alien. In Kim (1950) he played Lurgan, the shopkeeper and secret spy trainer. Moss's stage career began when he acted and directed for Le Gallienne's Civic Repertory Theatre , with his first production being Peter Pan (1929). He played Prospero in Margaret Webster 's 1945 production of Shakespeare 's The Tempest for
154-527: The La Gallienne troupe. Moss died from lung cancer at his home in New York City on December 15, 1989. He was 79. Character actor A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric or interesting characters in supporting roles , rather than leading ones. The term is somewhat abstract and open to interpretation. While all actors play "characters", the term character actor
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#1732852210062168-430: The names of character actors are not featured prominently in movie and television advertising on the marquee , since a character actor's name is not expected to attract film audiences. Some character actors have been described as instantly recognizable despite their names being little known. They are colloquially referred to as "that guy", or "that guy" actors, as in the 2014 documentary That Guy Dick Miller ; with
182-773: The tyrannical Gov. Kodos of Tarsus IV, in the episode " The Conscience of the King ". He also played in The Rifleman as the school teacher, Mr. Griswald, and as Chief Lonespear in Bonanza episode "In Defense of Honor" in 1968. Other television appearances include The Time Tunnel , The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. , The Man from U.N.C.L.E. , and the anthology series The Alfred Hitchcock Hour , General Electric Theater , Alfred Hitchcock Presents , Suspense , Tales of Tomorrow , Studio One , and Kraft Television Theatre . Moss married Stella Reynolds, an actress who performed with him in
196-604: Was the youngest announcer at CBS . He played Dr. Fabian in Cabin B-13 on CBS radio in 1948–49, played in Cafe Istanbul on ABC radio in 1952, was Ahmed on Stella Dallas , was Philip Cameron in Against the Storm and was the first voice of the character of Ted White on the radio serial, The Guiding Light , from April 1948 to May 1949. In the early 1930s, Moss taught speech at
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